Investors in the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, which went belly-up in 1999 in the largest nonprofit bankruptcy in history, are suing Arthur Andersen, the foundation's auditors, for covering up the fact that the foundation was a fraud. if (!mps._ext || !mps._ext.loaded) { The Baptist Foundation of Arizona filed for bankruptcy in federal court last week, owing nearly $600-million to 13,000 people who had bought securities from the organization. First case: The Baptist Foundation of Arizona invests and loses millions entrusted by churchgoers, and its mission ends in scandal. Copyright 2023, Good Faith Media | Site by, Two Words That Explain the Kyle Rittenhouse Acquittal, Challenging Racism in the Criminal Punishment System by. } The Enron scandal has entered the BFA picture, according to Andersen's Phoenix attorney, Ed Novak. regarding the disclosure of related parties and the recognition of losses, Baptist Foundation of Arizona fraud case: 20 years later - Phoenix the Arizona Corporation Commission as required by state law. evidence. TARGETED_ADS: 4, The Arizona Baptist Foundation. Instead, they referred the individual to former BFA Director, Jalma Hunsinger, who then purchased the property for US$1. At the time of its failure in 1999, it was the largest affinity fraud that had ever occurred in the United States, with a total loss estimated at US$550 million (equivalent to $895 million in 2021). The only thing I can confidently tell investors is this: The commission will pursue every possible avenue to ensure that Arthur Andersen pays for their egregious errors., The size of the settlement, The Wall Street Journal had reported March 4, was remarkably large compared with the losses suffered by investors.. Andersen opposed that request in court, the trust said; the Arthur Andersen Internet site, meanwhile, makes no mention of its latest BFA actions. .filter(categoryPreference => !categoryPreference.includes('0_') && categoryPreference.includes(':0')) (function(){ Arizona Officials Say Andersen Auditors Played Role in Fraud by a Baptist Group. Like many Some 13,000 investors lost $570 million, mainly elderly Baptists, some of whom lost their entire life's savings. Arizona Baptist Foundation victims still recovering | Cronkite News ideas on how fraud could occur and adjust the audit program plan so that tests Aug. 27, 1999 A class action lawsuit filed by investor Franklin Kestner Sr. charges the BFA bilked investors by funneling their money into projects that resulted in personal gain and profit for BFA officers. The Arizona Republic reported that Novak had said Andersens circumstances have changed significantly since it was indicted March 14 on federal charges involving its auditing of Houston-based energy trader Enron. A total of $40-million is available to those who choose to cash out. Kyle Cooper. Third point is "Baptist Foundation of Arizona". In a typical year-end flurry of transactions to help BFA show a profit, Santa Fe Trails Ranch II was transferred from Select Trading Group to ALO on Dec. 26, 1995. assets were receivables from the insolvent ALO. One pastor who had recently entrusted $1 million in church funds to. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona - A Case of Proper Fund Accounting Ignored and Manipulated Another major accounting scandal, and prelude to Andersen Accounting's participation in Enron's anomalous deals, was the illegal securities trading committed by the Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA). document.cookie = "__adblocker=" + (adblocker ? Sept. 10, 1999 BFA lays off 72 employees and closes offices in Youngtown and Tucson. Baptist Convention. In the decade since Vasquez's appeal for help, more than 250 people who worked or volunteered in Southern Baptist churches have been charged with sex crimes, an investigation by the Houston . 'subtype' : 'primetime_show' , Another pastor, Manly Perry of Old Path Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas, posted a video Nov. 19 distancing himself from the New IFB. This settlement takes on a sad historical significance The 1996 information, The Arizona Republic reported that Novak had said Andersen's circumstances have changed significantly since it was indicted March 14 on federal charges involving its auditing of Houston-based energy trader Enron. can are designed to be unpredictable and unexpected. script.setAttribute("onerror", "setAdblockerCookie(true);"); s.src = "https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2020/03/28/VisitorAPI.js"; Andersen Assailed Over Audits - The Washington Post A Church Divided: Sex Worker Scandal Exposes Fault Lines in Anti-LGBTQ Could Enron have been prevented? - International Due Diligence Organization with a questioning mind, recognizing the possibility that fraud may be present, return '
' of the accounting professions new antifraud initiatives, such as the The BFA carried out a number of illegal activities in perpetrating affinity fraud against Southern Baptist worshipers in Arizona. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The collapse of Bryant Financial Associates was a complete scandal that exposed the fraudulent activities of its executives. 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Last July, two executives from the Baptist Foundation of Arizona were convicted of fraud and racketeering after more than 11,000 investors lost more than $550 million perhaps the largest case of Christian fraud in American history. A Division of NBCUniversal. In 2002 Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents related to its audit of Enron. var d = new Date(); } const url = `${window.location.pathname}${window.location.search}`; Arthur Andersen Reaches Deal (Again) With Baptist Foundation of Arizona operations from collapsing was a constant influx of new investor money that Management responded to the new environment by structuring accounting transactions Investors Lost Millions in Church Fraud Executives Sentenced. Accusations of New IFB being a cult were also made by former New IFB preacher Adam Fannin, who left after the Romero scandal in January 2019. Baptist Foundation of Arizona WorldCom Enron Sunbeam scandal Andersen knew of the bill-and-hold schemes Waste Management Scandal Avoided depreciation expenses, Andersen knew about it and received bribes for issuing clean audit opinions. Two Failures With a Familiar Ring - The Washington Post Legal Statement. Baptist Foundation indictments thrown out. When the BFA filed for bankruptcy in 1999, it had $530 million in liabilities as compared to a reported $70 million in assets. PHOENIX (ABP) The Arizona Court of Appeals has upheld convictions of two former Baptist Foundation of Arizona officials sentenced to prison in 2006 for defrauding more than 11,000 investors in a Ponzi scheme. Founded in 1948, BFA was created as a nonprofit agency of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. regardless of past experience with the entity or prior beliefs about managements //begin OneTrust Redirect The subsidiary then used that money to purchase the loans from the parent company. available for public inspection from the Arizona Corporation Commission, showed Many were elderly and invested their retirement savings in the belief not only that their money was safe, but that part of their earnings would be put to use to advance the Lords work through planting of Southern Baptist churches. cEnd = document.cookie.length; MLA Baptist Foundation of Arizona Scandal.docx - Surname 1 Baptist Foundation of Arizona - By watching and reviewing "[1] Since he was working for both companies, Grabinski was able to authorize questionable transactions. } The BFA was associated with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, which was affiliated with the national organization. their life savings. Baptist Foundation of Arizona Beecher-Tilton scandal case Branch Davidians C Claudy bombing F Foreign Office papal visit memo G Greater Grace World Outreach Greater Ministries International H Hyles-Anderson College I 2015 Iglesia ni Cristo leadership controversy K Keldholme Priory election dispute David Koresh L Lonnie Latham Larry Lea } to these companies and received notes receivable that were recorded at the "Fraudulent Practices" | News | Phoenix | Phoenix New Times | The (function() { PHOENIX -- In 1999, Richard Kimsey and his wife, Susan, deposited $100,000 with a Phoenix-based Southern Baptist agency that promised to do the Lord's work. Under William Crotts } One BFA subsidiary, Arizona Southern Baptist New Church Ventures, had a stated purpose of financing new Southern Baptist churches in Arizona. To this day, it is considered one of the largest affinity frauds in U.S history. All eyes are on Houston this week, as jury selection gets underway for the long-awaited criminal trials of former Enron leaders Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling on charges of corporate fraud. Former Executives of Collapsed Arizona Baptist Foundation Convicted of Foundation officials and others involved in the investment scandal that led to the collapse may eventually face both civil and criminal charges. } This caused a lot of people, more than 11,000 investors, to lose their life savings ($550 million). Hunsinger subsequently used the property as collateral to obtain a US$6.8M loan from the BFA. [8] Crotts was sentenced to eight years in prison, while Grabinski was sentenced to six years; the two convicted criminals were required to pay $159 million (equivalent to $214 million in 2021), each, in restitution. The investors, many of whom are elderly, apparently were lured by promises of lucrative financial returns and assurances that some of their investment would benefit church ministries. disguise BFAs tenuous financial condition. The Baptist Foundation does have a plan to help investors recoup at least a portion of their money. In order to remove those loans from its books, the BFA secretly funneled money to a subsidiary. financial assistance was not expected to come from any other source. )+[a-zA-Z]{2,}))/; on funding church start-ups and providing aid for children and the elderly. 'cag[type_cnbcteam]' : 'CNBC US Team' , People of faith vulnerable to 'affinity frauds,' authorities say. The March 1 settlement had prompted the cancellation of a March 4 trial against Andersen in Arizonas Maricopa County for its failure to warn investors about BFA financial irregularities described as a Ponzi scheme that led to its collapse. both in and outside of management. If more than $40-million in claims are made, investors will have to share the money on a prorated basis, receiving even less than 20 cents on the dollar. (function(){var g=function(e,h,f,g){this.get=function(a){for(var a=a+"=",c=document.cookie.split(";"),b=0,e=c.length;bPaul Brasher Biography,
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